The Western Balkans continue to knock on Europe’s door – EUROEFE Euractiv

The EU has once again reaffirmed its full commitment to the accession prospects of the Western Balkans. The geostrategic environment, with the Russian war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East, threatens global security, highlighting the importance of the Western Balkans for the EU.

EU and Western Balkans leaders met in Brussels on December 13, a year after the 2022 Tirana summit. The summit aimed to bring the Western Balkans closer to the EU by advancing political integration, laying future economic foundations and mitigating the impact of Russian policies. war in Ukraine.

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said on Wednesday that, compared to previous years, there was for the first time an agreement between EU member states on preparation for enlargement. Metsola also recalled that the European Commission had recommended the conditional opening of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

At the summit on December 14, European leaders decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and approved the candidate status for Georgia.and to open negotiations with “Bosnia and Herzegovina once the necessary degree of compliance with the accession criteria is achieved and invited the commission to report by March with a view to taking such a decision”, announced the President of the European Council Charles Michel on the platform. X, formerly known as Twitter.

On Wednesday, he said Western Balkan countries would need to complete further reforms before being welcomed into the European Union.. “We expect more reforms from them, particularly in the area of ​​the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.” He added, however, that there is “strong political determination” in the region to carry out the necessary reforms.

GOLOB: “ENLARGEMENT MUST BE CONCEIVED IN GEOPOLITICAL TERMS”

Slovenia has long been a strong supporter of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU membership and Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob has said the country should be treated in the same framework as Ukraine and Moldova. Ahead of Wednesday’s summit, Golob called on European leaders to keep geopolitics in mind and demanded a comprehensive treatment of EU candidate countries. “The issue of enlargement must be seen in geopolitical terms and (the countries must be) treated as a whole as much as possible,” he said.

Golob stopped in Paris on his way to Brussels for talks with President Emmanuel Macron. When asked if Macron supported Slovenia’s initiative to now grant Bosnia candidate country status, he said it was up to Macron to answer that question. “But in principle we have the same position on this,” Golob said.

Slovenia is part of the “Friends of the Western Balkans” group, along with Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and Slovakia, which are calling for stronger signals to the region.

On Thursday, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that Bosnia and Herzegovina had received a strong political signal and a clear timetable to open accession negotiations in March next year. Plenković added that this is an excellent incentive for the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, headed by Chief of Staff Borjna Krišta, with whom he has been in contact all day, to take several more important steps over the two coming months to meet the required criteria.

EU leaders made the decision unexpectedly and quickly after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán waived his veto by abstaining.that is to say, he left the room during the vote.

ITALY WANTED A SIGNAL ON BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The decision to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once the necessary membership criteria are met was also strongly defended by Italy. Before the summit, Italy demanded that a “clear signal” be given to Bosnia-Herzegovina. For Rome, it was not enough to declare in the declaration that “the EU is ready” to open negotiations with Sarajevo.

At the same time, the General Affairs Council welcomed in its conclusions the reform efforts undertaken by Bosnia and Herzegovina following the granting of candidate country status in December 2022. It was underlined that important measures and commitments have been made towards of achieving key priorities, despite the negative developments in the situation. the entity of Republika Srpska. Furthermore, as noted, the Council encouraged continued necessary progress in reforms and underlined the importance of ensuring full compliance of all adopted laws with the EU acquis and European standards.

President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komšić, addressing the summit in Brussels, said that achieving the 14 key priorities of the European Commission’s opinion of May 2019 is essential for the future progress of the Bosnia and Herzegovina.

MORE COUNTRIES IN THE WAITING LINE

The other neighboring countries – Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – also have ambitions to join the EU, but face lengthy and meticulous accession procedures.

Montenegro, considered the favorite, began negotiations in 2012, followed by Serbia in 2014. Both countries, however, are far from fully aligning their laws and standards with EU standards.

Albania and North Macedonia opened accession negotiations last year, more than a decade after applying for membership.

Kosovo’s cause is hampered by the failure of five EU countries to recognize its independence following Kosovo’s separation from Serbia in 2008.

North Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski said that North Macedonia had completed the selection process, which was validated by the EU, but that “we all know that we still have a task to complete” . North Macedonia is yet to amend its constitution to resolve the long-standing problem with neighboring Bulgaria, adding a reference to the existence of a Bulgarian ethnic minority. He added that “the draft conclusions are very clear and we will certainly move forward with reforms, while the process of constitutional amendments is inevitable,” he said ahead of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels on Wednesday. “It’s now up to us, but the discussion will continue, that’s for sure,” Kovačevski concluded.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said regarding North Macedonia’s EU membership that Bulgaria supports EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, but has vetoed it until now to the accession of North Macedonia due to historical, cultural and linguistic disputes. Sofia asked Skopje to implement the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborhood and Cooperation between the two countries and adopt constitutional changes that will include Bulgarians in the Constitution of North Macedonia. The amendments drafted by the North Macedonian government have been widely debated but have not yet been adopted in Parliament.

SERBIA AGREES TO DECLARATION AND OPPOSES SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA

“It is a good thing that we have the EU-Western Balkans summit because, apart from the European political community, it is a new format in which we, the Western Balkans, can always speak openly, honestly and in a completely transparent manner with EU leaders,” said the Serbian Prime Minister. Ana Brnabic told reporters.

European Council President Charles Michel has urged Western Balkan countries to fully align with the EU’s foreign and security policy. He also discussed the application of sanctions, since Serbia refuses to adopt those imposed on Russia by the invasion of Ukraine, although it is a candidate for membership. Brnabic said that regarding EU values, Serbia agreed with the EU statement. However, when it comes to sanctions against RussiaShe said that the Serbian people are against the introduction of any kind of sanctions “because we suffered from sanctions in the 1990s. We believe that sanctions always endanger the most vulnerable of the population”, concluded Brnabic .

BORRELL: “GIVE PROMISES, AVOID FRUSTRATION”

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has lamented the slow pace of accession procedures.

“What we need to do is keep our promises, avoid frustrations and meet the expectations that have been created,” he said.

“The accession negotiations are part of our efforts to bring the Western Balkans closer together, but the other part is looking at the economy,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after the meeting. “If you look at the economies of the Western Balkans, they are now around 35 percent of the EU average. In other words, there is a lot of untapped potential,” she said.

“Whether it is, for example, a photovoltaic solar power plant in Albania or a railway in Montenegro. These are the projects that we are moving forward,” von der Leyen said. “And finally, young people, the most precious part of our lives. In October, we had the pleasure and honor of opening the local office of the College of Europe in Tirana. I can say that at present, 500 students have already applied to study there next year. The European Union will finance 15 scholarships,” von der Leyen said.

Economic cooperation and targeted investments in infrastructure such as roads, railways, internet and power grids are expected to boost the region’s economies. The commission announced a new investment program of 680 million euros for projects in the field of rail transport and renewable energy in the Western Balkans.

While countries are still waiting to become EU members, citizens and businesses should “feel the positive effects of this engagement with the EU as quickly as possible,” Michel said.

The EU wants to encourage “more investment” and “more economic development”, he said.

A proposed fund worth up to 6 billion euros, however, is at the heart of an internal EU debate over revising the bloc’s common budget.

EUROPEAN PRESS ROOM

European Press Room (Redacción Europea) This is an initiative that brings together 16 reporting agencies from different European countries, between the services of the EFE, and which aims to improve the coverage of community services and strengthen the sector. Thanks to the coordination of the German agency, DPA, the editorial work began at the beginning of 2022 and it was announced that the funding provided by the European Commission, of 1.76 million euros, will reach its operating costs until at the end of 2023.

The agencies that were involved in the project are: dpa (Germany), EFE (Spain), Europa Press (Spain), AFP (France), ANSA (Italy), AGERPRES (Romania), APA (Austria), ATA (Albania ) , HINA (Croatia), MIA (North Macedonia), Belga (Belgium), PAP (Poland), BTA (Bulgaria), FENA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), STA (Estonia), Tanjug (Serbia), TASR (Eslovakia) and UKRINFORM (Ukraine).